


The Merger

by BlueTeller



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clueless Danny Fenton, Complicated Relationships, Confused Danny Fenton, Enemies to Friends, Evil Vlad Masters, Friendship, Fusion, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Meddling Clockwork (Danny Phantom), Platonic Relationships, Separate Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom, Sharing a Body
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28790916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTeller/pseuds/BlueTeller
Summary: By an accident in the Ghost Portal, Danny Fenton has been fused with a ghost. Terrified of the Phantom hiding inside of him, he wants nothing but to get rid of him before his parents find out and rip them both apart molecule by molecule... However, his opinion of the ghostly companion might change as they form a tentative friendship. But what will they do, if they run out of time?(How exactly would Danny cope with being permanently possessed by a ghost? And more importantly, how would said ghost cope with being imprisoned in the form of a human?)
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton/Sam Manson, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 53





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't worked on this fic for a long time - not exactly an original idea, but I'm still glad I wrote it. The show itself plays with the idea of "what if Fenton and Phantom were two separate people" in episode "Identity Crisis", but I took a little different take on it. It's not an extremely angsty fic or anything, just a bit more serious; where sharing a body with someone isn't just a joke, it's a problem and a big inconvenience.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clockwork observes an important event, which has been foreseen eons ago.

**Prologue**

* * *

Silence rang in the empty halls, only interrupted by the everpresent sound of ticking filling the tower. Eerie green glow surrounded the walls, creating an ominous yet compelling atmosphere. Meanwhile, a small ghost in a purple hood floated around absentmindedly, tinkering with a mysterious staff in his hand. The harmless-looking creature was not as helpless as it seemed - he was in fact Clockwork, the Master of Time, the tower's creator and only resident... well, at least for the time being.

Clockwork glanced in the direction of the corner where a hideous old table resided. Why was there a useless furniture article like that in the first place? Because one day, the ghost knew that the table would not be so useless anymore. In twenty years, it would have the dubious honor of holding one of the most - of not _the_ most - dangerous being in existence. Otherwise, the Time Master would have never bothered to put such an ugly piece of wood in his home. Sometimes the power of foresight was really useful for home-decorating, the specter mused.

Sensing an important event taking place, Clockwork stopped working on his staff and flew towards one of the many round screens in the tower. With a wave, an image of a slim figure revealed itself. The young man had dark-grey hair, divided by a lighter color in the middle, and a sour expression. The ghost watched intensely, his form changing from a little child to a full-grown adult.

"It has begun," he said in a deep voice, devoid of any emotion.

The young man on the screen stood in front of a strange machine - it looked quite impressive. However as he examined it, his face seemed skeptical at best.

"I'm telling you Jack, it won't work!" he spoke exasperatedly, his eyes lifting to the ceiling.

The other male, with black-hair and huge stature, just grinned at him. He was clearly used to the first one's attitude. "Bogus, V-man, it totally will! This proto-portal is guaranteed to bust over the wall into the ghost dimension!" he reassured with enthusiasm.

A red-haired girl picked up some notes, frowning at the content. "Jack, these calculations aren't right..." she said, but her enthusiastic companion paid no mind to her words.

"BANZAAAI!" he exclaimed, pushing a button on his remote, starting the machine.

The machine buzzed loudly... then suddenly, it exploded, bright green light shooting out of it and hitting the closest person in range as the result.

"AAAUUUGRH!" the slim man screamed in pain, the light consuming his face.

Clockwork watched calmly until the image faded completely, leaving a bright empty screen. The ghost smiled mirthlessly to himself.

"Welcome to the world, Vlad Plasmius."

Just as the words left his lips, a loud bang resounded in the tower.

"CLOCKWORK!"

The Time Master sighed, changing to a very, very old form. He knew too well who dared to barge into his home like this. The Observants weren't renown for subtlety, that's for sure.

"You could have at least knocked," Clockwork remarked with a deadpanned expression as four Observants furiously stormed in.

"You knew of us coming anyway," one of the eyeball-headed specters brushed him off. Clockwork smiled wryly in response. For beings who were supposed to have a great awareness of everything of the world, the Observants didn't show much confidence in the Time Master's judgement nor skills, only pointing them out when they deemed it relevant. Which was always when they wanted something from him, now not being very different. "Clockwork, something disturbing has just taken place in the Human Realm. Something that was never supposed to happen!"

"Oh?" Clockwork replied innocently, feigning ignorance.

"A _human_ just fused with a _ghost_! And what's worse, both of them _survived_!"

"This abomination cannot be allowed to exist. Something has to be done."

"That thing is a danger to the entire time-stream!"

"You must erase them both from the timeline before the merging process is complete!"

"Enough."

The Observants were silenced, waiting for the Time Master's response.

"Why is the Council so concerned about something as trivial as a new... species?" Clockwork asked reasonably.

"Trivial?! You cannot be serious."

"But I am. This... creature... is nothing more than a new type of ghost."

"A human-ghost hybrid!" the lead Observant screeched.

"First time for everything. This is a rare event," Clockwork shifted into a child, smiling. He decided not to mention that in mere twenty years, another hybrid would come to exist... well, what Observants didn't know couldn't hurt them.

"Do you have any idea how powerful it will become? A creature composed of two souls?!"

Clockwork was quite offended at the insinuation that _he_ was the ignorant one.

"I am well aware. However, that's no reason to erase it from the time-stream."

"But-!"

"Relax," the Master of Time said calmly, radiating confidence. "Everything is the way it's supposed to be."

"But it will soon become a Merger, Clockwork. Permanently," one last Observant argued. "Which side will dominate? The ghost, or the human?"

Clockwork paused. "In this case..." he said slowly "...there is little chance for the human to dominate, so when the process is done... in most probability, the Merger will be controlled by the soul of its ghost."

Only then the Observants finally relaxed. A human with the powers of a ghost - that was a frightening concept for them, but a ghost with a couple of human qualities? That was for the Council much easier to swallow.

"Now," Clockwork changed form again, this time to adult, "Would you please go observe the door? I have work to do."

Finally, the four ghosts complied, leaving the Time Master alone. Clockwork turned back to the screen, an image of a man in a hospital gown appearing. Previously dark-grey hair on his head was now almost white, and his face was covered in horrible acne. Little did the young man know that it was the least of his troubles.

"I am sorry for your predicament, Vlad Masters," Clockwork said quietly, "But there is nothing I can do to prevent this. You make your own choices, I'm afraid..."

The image changed abruptly, a face of a young boy taking its place.

"...Thanks to you, same mistakes will not be repeated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> This is it! My first fiction for "Danny Phantom" (not counting one parody cross-over). I know this plot had been done many times over, but I have a slightly different concept than others I've seen, you'll see. I hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> Just so you know, there will be little to zero romance. If anything, I will only hint at cannon parrings (such as Danny and Sam), but this fic is going to focus on the idea of brotherhood and friendship, which means platonic relationships. Got it? Don't ask for romance because it just doesn't fit in this plot.
> 
> Also, please be aware that keeping the characters in... character, faithfully to the show, will be very hard if not completely impossible. Not because of my inability, but because the show is just so freaking ridiculous. I don't mean that as a bad thing though :) The show is very funny and even clever at times, but the characters most of the time are just... dumb! It's part of the charm, I know, but I'm trying to make this story at least a little bit realistic. That means, my characters won't be total morons all the time. Especially the adults. Because seriously, the parents and teachers are so stupidly oblivious, not to mention incompetent, it's just painful to watch. I get the impression that they don't care, and I want to like them. Especially in my story.
> 
> The picture belongs to "Polterrgeist".
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, please review and favorite and follow (if you can ;) but most importantly - read on and enjoy!


	2. Ghostly awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets electrocuted by the Ghost Portal and dies... or does he?

_Twenty years later…_

* * *

Three pairs of feet trotted down the stairs to a pitch-black basement, the sound of each footstep bouncing against the metal-covered walls like a small thunder.

"I don't know about this, guys…" a young male voice spoke.

"Oh, don't be a such killjoy, Danny!" another one, this time female, responded.

"Yeah, man, you've got a mad scientist's lab in your basement! How cool is that!" the third, accented male voice exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Creepy, actually. Do you have any idea what's it like, to sleep just two floors above a spooky basement with a portal that's supposed to lead to the place where the dead end up?" the first voice said bluntly.

"Hmm… Good point." The footsteps stopped abruptly. "Oh, um, why don't you go in first, Sam…?"

"Two courageous men, letting the only girl present go in their place to face the danger ahead of us… real brave, boys." The sarcasm was practically dripping from the female's tone.

"I thought you supported things like this, Sam. Girl power and all that?" There was a loud smack. "OW!"

"Shut up, Danny."

The door was opened slowly, making a dragging, creaking sound, which echoed ominously in the room. The light coming from the stairs revealed three silhouettes. In the front stood a raven-haired, pale-skinned girl of the age of fourteen, dressed in depressing choice of black clothes and combat boots. From behind her back, two boys of the same age were peeking out: one afro-american with a red beret, yellow sweater and a pair of nerdy glasses, the other Caucasian with messy jet-black hair, wearing a plain white T-shirt with a red oval in center. There was a brief pause from the trio as they stared into the darkness.

"Oookay, I think I've seen enough, bye guys, see ya on Monday!" But before the dark-skinned boy could leave, the pale girl grabbed his collar and yanked forcefully, earning from him a high-pitched yelp. "Hey!"

"Oh, no you don't Tucker! We're here already, and we're going to check it out," she ordered and turned to her messy-haired companion. "Danny."

"Yeah?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

The girl's eyebrow twitched. "Find the light switch."

Danny grinned mischievously. "What's the magic word, Sam?"

Sam's eyes narrowed to slits as she growled: " _Now._ "

"Okay, okay, easy, I was just kidding," Danny held up his hands defensively, his face not quite matching the apologetic tone of his voice. Sam waved a fist into his direction, making the boy duck and swiftly retreat in search for the light switch.

A couple of seconds later, a quiet click pierced the silence and the lab was flooded with bright light.

Tucker jumped, covering his face. "Aaah! My eyes!"

"Shhh, Tuck." Danny murmured, nudging him with the right elbow. His friend looked up, still rubbing his eyelids in pain. "Look at Sam. I can't remember the last time anything made her speechless."

The boy in glasses blinked and indeed, their Goth friend appeared to had lost her voice for the moment. Tucker grinned and quickly pulled out a device from his pocket. He pressed a couple of buttons.

"This is definitely going on the internet," he said, next turning the PDA to the object of Sam's apparent admiration: a large hole in the wall, surrounded by very sci-fi looking construction of silver and grey wires, screws and buttons. "Whoa..." he breathed out, taking a picture. "Awesome."

"I know, right?" Sam finally snapped out of it, grinning like a maniac. "I knew it was worth it to come here."

"Alright, you guys have seen it, now let's get the heck out of here before my parents come home," Danny said uncomfortably, shuffling his feet.

"Not just yet. I gotta take pictures for my scrapbook, first." She took out her own camera and started what seemed to be a full-blown photo session of the hole in the wall.

"Come oooon, guys," Danny whined, looking nervously at the still open door to the lab.

"Just a moment, Danny. There, stand here for a moment for me."

The boy shrugged and moved to the view of the camera. Tucker joined him for the other take, and the next one was a selfie of the three of them in front of the portal.

"Okay, you got your pictures, can we _please_ go now?"

"Wait a second," Sam brushed him off, causing the boy to sigh in exasperation. "What's this?" She picked up from the table what appeared to be some sort of white suit with black gloves.

"It's, uh... my HAZMAT suit," Danny said, his cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. "My, um, my parents got it for me on my birthday."

"Cool," Sam looked at it for a moment, then suddenly grinned wolfishly at her friend. "Put it on."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just do it, stupid."

The boy seemed unconvinced by the witty argument, but complied regardless. The two of them didn't notice their other friend recording them with a smirk plastered all over his smug face. Moments later, Danny wore the full-body HAZMAT suit. He looked at his friends skeptically. "Well?"

"Wait..." Sam walked up to him and tore something from the suit's front. It appeared to be a sticker of a male face with a hard-squared jaw and a toothy grin. "Wouldn't want _that_ on your chest, would you?"

"Okay, so what about it now?" Danny asked a bit impatiently, eager to get this over with and take the suit off. The HAZMAT wasn't uncomfortable, but it was certainly feeling weird on the skin for someone who was't used to wearing it.

"Looking good, man." Tucker showed a thumbs-up.

"Awesome, Danny. You look a real ghost hunter!" Danny rolled his eyes at the comment - like he hadn't heard _that_ one before. "Now, stand in front of the portal again."

Danny obeyed once again, letting Sam have her fun and take a couple more pictures from different angles. The girl stopped suddenly, looking at the portal with a face that screamed: "DING! Idea!"

"Danny, can you go inside the portal? I want to take a picture with you in the middle of it."

The boy's eyes widened at the suggestion. "What? Sam, I don't think that's-"

"Come on, man," Tucker interrupted. "You said yourself it doesn't work, right?"

"It doesn't. Still…"

"You're wearing a suit for protection anyway. Might as well use it for something, huh?" Seeing Danny's torn expression, she pushed a little harder: "Come on, Danny, a portal to another dimension? You've got to check it out!"

Danny gazed at the portal for a long moment. Many things seemed to be going through his head. Finally, a smile settled over his lips as he made up his mind.

"You know what? You're right. Who knows what kind of awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that portal."

The time seemed to slow down as the boy entered the hole in the wall, each footstep sounding louder than the previous one. Danny walked to the point where the light from the lab could no longer reach, stopping abruptly.

"See anything in there?" Tucker's voice came in an echo.

"Not much!" Danny responded loudly. "Too dark in here!"

His hand reached out to the wall, seeking support. Suddenly, a wire tangled up with his foot and caused him to trip. "Umph!" He supported himself and something clicked quietly beneath his hand. As Danny's fingers retreated, another click could be heard. "Huh?"

The sound barely left his lips when a loud, buzzing noise filled the portal. The boy's clear blue eyes grew wide in terrifying realization.

"Oh no."

Before he could move, or react in any way at all, a blinding green light surrounded him entirely, shocking him right to his core. An agonized howl tore from his throat:

"AAAUUUGHR!"

The scream hit everyone the lab like a storm, freezing blood in the veins of the two teenagers waiting outside the portal.

"DANNY!" they yelled in unison, never so horrified before in their entire life.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the distant depths of the green mists filling the Infinite Realms, a lonely ghost floated around absentmindedly. He knew not of his name, nor age, nor purpose. He wasn't supposed to remember, not yet. It took many years for a natural ecto-entity to form, most of which were necessary for the ghost to regain the memory of their previous life. His instincts knew he still had a long way to go before his physical body was complete.

But the ghost was patient. He knew that one day, he would achieve his full form and be able to go wherever he wanted, and it was all the comfort he needed. Because that was exactly the only thing this particular ghost desired - freedom. To be completely, unconditionally free. To be able to travel, to explore the world. He was still too weak for that, only able to float with the current of the ectoplasm in the air. It didn't bother him though. He could wait, he had time.

He had the whole eternity.

Suddenly, strange buzzing started coming from a swirling spot right in front of him. He had no time to ponder on its nature however, as a different sound resounded from the same source.

"AAAUUUGHR!"

The horrible noise slammed onto the ghost's not-yet-fully-formed ears, making him wince him fear. What _was_ that? He wanted nothing but to make it stop, to get away, but he couldn't do anything - he was helpless, completely and utterly unable to prevent what was about to happen. The current pushed him steadily forward, directly into the loud, continuously growing bright spot and the ghost started to panic. If only he could get out of the way before-!

The next thing the ghost knew, he was consumed by light… and pain. Lots and lots of indescribable pain.

Was this death? Was he dying...?

...again...?

* * *

Danny had never felt such pain before.

His entire body was on fire - coursing through every bone, every muscle, every blood vessel in his flesh, merciless in breaking them apart, burning down until there was nothing left but ashes. But at the same time, it seemed as if he were frozen, he couldn't move an inch, as if he was trapped inside of a block of ice. Through the fog of pain he could hear his scream, but is sounded strange, like it belonged to another person. Perhaps it _did_ belong to someone else? Where his friends there? Please let them be there. Please let them _save him_ from this torture... and _themselves_.

As his light-filled vision began blacking out, all of a sudden he experienced a different sensation, something similar to a bucket of liquid glue or thick paint being poured onto his skin. It would have been soothing, except that it burned more painfully than everything else from before... despite being unbearably cold at the same time. The one good thing it did though was that finally, Danny was able to move.

The boy dropped to his knees, pulling on his hair and screaming out for what he had no doubt would be the last time. Seconds before passing out, he heard his voice intertwining with another, the two blending together in a twisted harmony.

* * *

The ghost didn't know how long it took before the pain ended. It seemed like hours, but it could be seconds as well... he had lost his sense of time a long while ago in the Ghost Zone. There, he had thought that the passage of time was meaningless to him. Oh, how wrong he had been.

As the awful sensation of his semi-formed body being ripped to shreds and then pulled back together faded, he became aware of the change inside of him. He could... _feel_. And not just pain, or fatigue, or fear - which he had all felt before, even as a ghost - he could _feel_ feel: his hands pulling on his hair, his knees quacking on the ground, his spine shivering, his lungs struggling frantically for precious air... wait... _what?_

The ghost's eyes snapped open in shock as he realized that _he had a body again_. But not a normal, full-formed, ghostly body he had been waiting for. This body was different from what he had been expecting, what he knew it was supposed be like. It felt foreign, it felt strange, it felt new...

...and most of all, it felt _alive_.

"Danny? Danny! Can you hear us?!"

"Please, answer us, man! Please!"

The voices came from the outside. They sounded so... worried. A pang of sadness touched his heart, even though he couldn't remember _why_ the emotion affected him so much. But he needed to reach out for them, to give them comfort, to tell them that everything was going to be alright...

_"I'm okay, see? I'm just fine. Please... don't cry."_

The distant memory of those words gave him the strength to gradually stand up on his shaking legs. Step after step, he slowly walked out into the light.

* * *

Tucker watched in horror as Danny's body was engulfed by green light, his best friend's scream chilling him to the bone. This was all their fault, Danny had warned them that it was stupid and dangerous, that they shouldn't be there in the first place. They'd been _such idiots_!

Idiots... who costed their friend his own _life_.

Sams thoughts run in a similar direction, except, she believed only one person to be responsible. _**I** made him take us down here, **I** made him wear the suit, **I** made him go inside that stupid portal! **This is all MY fault!**_

Then, as if someone pushed a silence button, the screaming stopped. The light in the portal slowed down, creating a glowing vortex of swirling green mist.

"Danny?" Sam's voice shook as she spoke again. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was about to faint. "Danny! Can you hear us?!"

"Please answer us, man!" Tucker's voice was unstable too, his face the color of ash and eyes suspiciously moist. "Please!"

For a second that seemed to drag on for an eternity, no sound except a gentle hum came from the portal. Then, a quiet tapping of dragged feet reached their ears, making their hearts stop.

"Danny?" Sam whispered, hopeful but unable to believe it.

A figure slowly emerged from the portal, the silhouette dark against its green glow but the obvious hunched position betrayed pain. Without a thought, the two teens run to the side of their best friend.

"Danny! Are you okay?!" the techno-geek asked urgently, grabbing his shoulder. But when the boy's head lifted to meet Tucker's eyes, he stopped in shock, alongside with Sam.

The Danny they knew and loved, and the boy standing in front of them appeared to be two vastly different people... at first glance. Danny's hair was pure black, his eyes crystal blue, and his skin very pale, almost as pale as Sam's. The person currently with them had snow-white hair, neon-green eyes, and a tanned complexion. His suit also was different from Danny's HAZMAT - while Danny's was white with black gloves, his was black with white gloves, which appeared to be glowing. Actually, his whole body seemed to glow, now that Tucker thought about it. Almost as if he were a...

"Danny?" Sam asked quietly, staring at him with wide eyes.

The boy in question finally snapped out of his stupor, blinking rapidly. "Whaaa..." he slurred, swaying on his feet. If Tucker hadn't been holding onto him, he would have fallen. Sam immediately sneaked her arm around him from the other side to provide more support. Upon closer inspection, it was definitely their friend. He had the same face, the same stature, the same messy hair-style... It was too big of a resemblance to be just a coincidence.

"Are you okay?" the Goth girl repeated Tucker's question softly. "How do you feel?"

"Uuugh... so weird..." the now white-haired teen mumbled, barely coherent. "Where am I?"

Tucker and Sam shared a confused look.

"You're still in your folks' lab, man. Remember what happened? With the portal? You just came out of it."

Danny turned around to look at the swirling mist inside the hole in the wall. He gasped.

"So _that's_ what it was..." he said, staring for a moment. Tucker, who was only starting to wrap his mind around the idea that his best friend appeared to be a ghost, suddenly noticed something that didn't fit. Danny's voice sounded... different. It could be justified, considering all the other unnatural changes and a ghostly echo to match, but he had known Danny from the first grade, and he was certain he did _not_ speak like that. His tone, his accent, they were different, almost as if he came from a different State. Sam didn't notice though, too worried about what had happened to pay attention to details.

"Does anything hurt, Danny? Please, tell us..." she pleaded uncharacteristically to her usual strong, indifferent persona.

"Hey, I'm fine! No worries..." the boy tried to laugh it off, but the effect was spoiled a bit by a visible wince of pain. However it did succeed in calming Sam down, making her rolled eyes at him. "Uh... Just one question, though..."

"What is it?"

"...Why do you keep calling me Danny?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> I'm evil, I know ;D Who doesn't love a good ol' cliffhanger?
> 
> I wanted very badly to succeed creating enough suspense and the right atmosphere for the scene, despite the fact that the reader already knows what's about to happen. I can only hope it didn't turn out pretentious or dragged out... It was still relatively short though. The future chapters will be longer, don't worry.
> 
> Also, in the future, I will do my best to distinct Danny's and Phantom's personalities from each other, so you can tell them apart. The character development and forming relationships are the most vital parts of my stories in general.
> 
> Oh, and Clockwork will return, eventually. I didn't put him in the intro just because. I love writing that character way too much to pass up the opportunity. Clockwork is just so awesome.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews, I hope to see you guys in the future. Please don't hesitate to review, follow and favorite if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy! ;)


	3. Hostly denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Tucker meet and greet the new Danny... or is he Danny?

If they weren't inside a basement deep underground, Sam and Tucker would have sworn they could hear crickets over the dead silence that followed.

After a long, awkward moment, the techno geek burst into laughter.

"Ahahahahaha, good one Danny," Tucker wiped a tear from his eye. "Pretending you have amnesia, huh? Classic!"

"Tucker..." Sam's voice held a warning. She didn't find anything remotely funny in the situation.

"Pretending? But..." The poor boy in front of them only seemed more confused than before.

The Goth took charge, putting both of her hands on his shoulders and looking directly into his eyes. "Danny, think hard: do you know who we are? Can you remember our names?"

The white-haired teen frowned, perplexed. He didn't have the slightest clue what was going on anymore. Why would he 'remember' these two? He was fairly certain he didn't know them. He _couldn't_ know them. They were obviously human, and he hadn't seen the Human Realm since he had died. "Uh, no. Sorry," he added quickly, seeing the girl's crestfallen expression.

"Dude, seriously?" Tucker looked worried and a little scared. "Quit joking, this isn't funny."

"But I'm not joking!" The neon-green eyes flashed suddenly, almost causing Sam to jump back. "Really, I have no idea what is going on!"

"Do you remember who _you_ are at least?" Sam asked, struggling to keep her cool, however inwardly she was full-blown panicking. Could turning into a... _this_ , make someone loose their memory?!

"...What do you mean? Of course I-" the boy stopped abruptly. His mouth was left hanging open.

Before the girl asked the question, he would have sworn that the answer was 'yes'. However... slowly but surely, his mind started catching up to the recent changes, not just the ones connected to this strange new body. He knew that something crucial inside him had been altered from the moment he stepped out of that thing – the portal, according to the guy with a hat. But only now he begun to comprehend the extent of those changes.

 _I can't feel myself grow anymore,_ he thought dumbly. Then his eyes widened to the size of teacups as the realization sunk in. _I can't... I can no longer reconnect with my memories._

The forming of a ghost out of ectoplasm was a long, most delicate process. The reason not many people got to become ghosts in the first place. Usually after a person died, their soul would be dormant for years, taking time to decide between returning to the world they left behind, or passing on to the next. If they chose to eventually return, gradually, their conscious and memories would start coming back. Then they would take form depending on their purpose. There was much more to a ghost than just their obsession – against humans' popular belief, some ghost didn't even _have_ one – but it played a vital role in the final appearance of their new body, as well as the amount of memory they would eventually recover.

Before today, the young ghost could recall only small snippets of his life. As vague as those flashes might have been though, at least they were _there_ , and as he grew, more and more were coming back to him. He could sense the plethora of old memories buried somewhere deep within his soul, waiting to be uncovered once again. Now, however... that connection seemed lost. Whatever just happened in that portal, it severed the fragile bond between his life and afterlife. It was as if those memories had never been there at all. They just disappeared.

The only anchor to his past... gone forever.

"...I don't... know..." he whispered, the growing distress clear in his voice and expression. The ghost felt like he was going to pass out – which shouldn't be possible in the first place! He started shaking uncontrollably. " _I don't know!_ " he wailed suddenly, falling to his knees.

Sam and Tucker gasped, certain he was about to have a breakdown. Sitting on the floor next to him, Sam began rubbing the boy's back soothingly, while Tucker held his shoulder and rambled broken apologies. The geek was unable to find the words that would fully express how awfully guilty he felt.

"Oh, man, we're sorry. We're so sorry, I swear Danny, we never meant for any of this to happen...!"

The ghost still didn't know why they called him by that name, but it didn't matter at the moment. The breath in his throat hitched, and he could feel tears prickling from his eyes. Before he knew it, he was openly sobbing.

 _This is all my fault_ , Sam thought once again, her insides twisting in remorse. She had never felt so helpless before. Not only did she kill her best friend... she also cost him his memories, his identity, _everything_. He must have been feeling so lost and scared right now, with nothing to hold onto. Abandoning her gothic ultra-recyclo-vegetarian pride, she pulled him into a tight embrace. "Danny... I am so, _so_ sorry."

Under any other circumstances, the young ghost would never allow himself to reveal such vulnerability – not to strangers, and especially not humans. But his afterlife as he knew it had just been shattered in front of his eyes so he didn't care who or why offered him comfort, he just took it. He returned the hug with equal force and cried into her shoulder, Tucker taking Sam's place in rubbing the ghostly teen's back.

It didn't take him a long time calm down though. After several minutes the white-haired boy pulled back, wiping his eyes dry and putting on a brave face. His instinct to hide his hurt from others kicked back in. He tried to grin in reassurance, failing pretty badly. "I-I'm okay now. Thanks for... um, that. Both of you."

Sam smiled sadly at him. "You're welcome, Danny."

The boy didn't feel much curiosity towards the subject anymore, but it had to be asked: "Why 'Danny'? Why are you two calling me that?"

The girl's small smile immediately fell from her face.

"Because... that's your name," she explained warily. "Danny Fenton. Or at least, it used to be."

"Used to?" he repeated, but something didn't feel right. 'Danny Fenton'... The name didn't click with him at all. There was no way that could be his name... right? Besides, how would this girl know it? _He_ had been dead for over a decade; _she_ couldn't be older than fourteen.

"You died. You're..." she swallowed, the words were heavy on her tongue like led. "You're dead. A ghost."

The ghost boy frowned. "I know that," he said plainly.

"You do?" Tucker gaped in surprise.

"It's kind of hard to miss, you know."

"And you're just... _okay_ with that?" Sam was flabbergasted. He broke down completely a short moment ago. Where this acceptance came from all of a sudden?

"Yeah, I guess," the white-haired teen shrugged. "You get used to it after a while."

That sentence rang a loud alarm in Tucker's mind. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a powerful door slam with a following:

" _Sweetie, we're home! Did you finish all your chores?_ "

Sam and Tucker instantly froze, as if they forgot to breathe. Their companion looked between the two with confusion.

"Who's that?"

Sam snapped out of it first. She grabbed the ghost's shoulder and shook him. "Danny! Hide!" she hissed quietly.

The boy blinked at her unexpected change in attitude. "Why? Who is that woman?"

"That's your mom, Danny! Your patents are here!" she shout-whispered at him. "They're ghost hunters! They hate ghosts! They're going to rip you apart and dissect your remains if you don't hide _right now_!"

That got through to him. His eyes widened in horror at the mental image. "Ghost hunters?! But... where am I supposed to hide?!"

"I don't know, just find something!"

The three startled teens started to run around the lab looking for a hiding spot. Their panic doubled when they heard footsteps descending from the stairs, the voice of Maddie Fenton getting closer:

" _Danny? Are you down in the lab? You know you're not allowed in there without supervision!_ "

If they had time to sit down and come up with a plan, they probably would have picked the most obvious solution; sending the _ghost_ into the _Ghost_ Zone trough the newly-opened portal. But in their frantic, about-to-get-caught state of minds, they didn't even think of that. Instead, Tucker opened a huge round door to what appeared to be a weapon vault and whispered:

"Over here, guys!"

Sam quickly grabbed the fretting ghost boy and the three stumbled into the vault, closing the door behind them literally two seconds before Mrs. Fenton entered.

"Danny?" she looked around the lab, only to see no one. "Huh, Jack probably left the lights on by accident. Danny must be out with his friends again." She sighed tiredly. "I swear, sometimes that boy..." she trailed off, distracted by a glowing vortex inside what she had believed to be a nonfunctional Ghost Portal. Her face instantly went from exhausted to incredulous, then changed into ecstatic in a matter of seconds.

" _JACK!_ "

As if he could teleport Mr. Fenton immediately busted through the door, pointing a loaded Fenton Bazooka. "WHERE'S THE GHOST?!"

"No ghost, honey." Mr. Fenton pouted. "But look at this!" Mrs. Fenton pointed and when her husband saw what she was looking at, he almost dropped the weapon in shock.

"Maddie... is _that_ what I think it is...?"

"It is, Jack!" she nodded vigorously. "The portal is working!"

"Hahaha, _yes_! We've done it, baby!" Jack exclaimed, beaming with happiness. He grabbed his wife and the two spun around in joy. Both adults were grinning and laughing like little children. "Our life-long project, the Fenton Ghost Portal, finally realized! A true gateway to another dimension, Mads! This gotta be the best day of my life!"

"Oh, Jack! We'll get to see real ghosts! Imagine all the discoveries and achievements we're going to make!" Maddie said giddily.

"And the new weapons!" Jack added with cheer, rubbing his hands together. "Something to rip ghosts to shreds in a matter of seconds! How does 'the Fenton Ghost Peeler' sound to you, sweetcackes?"

"And the ghosts we'll be able catch," she continued in a dreamy tone. "We will finally get to examine what's inside of them!"

"Yup, we'll know everything there is to know about those ecto-scumbags in no time!"

As the two ghost hunters loudly celebrated a certain green-eyed ghost, hidden not only ten feet away, listened to the exchange with unfamiliar shivers of dread running down his spine. The girl hadn't been joking when she said they would destroy him the first chance they got... Those people were literally planning on _cutting him open to examine his insides_. It was a good thing he had a wall for support, because his knees became like jelly at the morbid thought. He also felt like he was about to throw up, and he was so distressed he didn't stop to wonder how was that possible for a ghost.

Tucker and Sam were just as sick, looking at their trembling friend with open dread. When they've heard the Fentons' rants about ghosts before, they never thought anything of it. They didn't even believe in ghosts' existence, so why would they care? But now, _everything_ was different.

Sam's activist's spirit had awaken, filling her with rage that anyone would even _think_ about doing such cruel things to a living- er, that is, _sentient_ being. How dare they! Even if the Fentons were convinced all ghosts were evil – which she seriously doubted, already having spent more time with a ghost than both of the Fentons combined – that was no excuse for such horrific, inhumane intentions. She was so furious she felt tempted to step out of that door right now and give the couple of armed ghost hunters of her mind.

Tucker, on the other hand, was more concerned about what they were going to tell the Fentons about Danny.

 _We can't just tell them their son turned into a **ghost**!_ he thought, biting his lip. _Even if they believe us and love him enough not to hurt him, what could they do for him? He's **dead**. What's worse, he doesn't remember anything. Can we even prove that he's Danny? He doesn't look the same anymore... or sound like himself, for that matter..._

The techno geek observed the white-haired teen for a moment in silence. His features, his hair-style, his body, even the HAZMAT suit – they were all so... Danny. On the other hand, there were certain things about him that didn't quite fit, which was throwing it all off. The voice was one thing. What was much more noticeable though, was the way he held himself. Danny Fenton never stood straight, unless his name was called during PE class by Ms. Tetslaff, his shoulders usually lazily hunched. Ever since he stepped from the portal it had been the exact opposite. _This_ Danny's back was like a string, and his expression as tight as a wire, like he was trying to hide his emotions. It could've been just a defense mechanism, nothing more, but... in the past, Danny never cared about covering up his feelings. Not that he was a crybaby or anything, but he didn't hesitate to express himself, especially to his best friends. This new Danny was different... a _lot_. And Tucker suspected they hadn't seen the most of it yet.

 _Does death really change a person this much?_ he wondered, an itching feeling in his mind insisting that there was something else in the picture that he was missing.

When the Fentons finally left the lab, the three teenagers breathed out a sigh of relief.

"So..." The ghost boy composed himself, facing his human friends with what he hoped was a cool, indifferent expression. Funnily enough, his body's dim glow was the only source of light in the crammed vault, so he was the only person in the room who's expression could be seen. "What now?"

There was a brief pause.

"First, we get out of here," Sam decided, her hand wandering on the door to the vault. After a short moment, she asked: "Can you guys see the handle anywhere?"

The boys stepped closer, one to join her in the search and the other to give them some light. However, they remained unsuccessful. A suspicion slowly formed in Sam's mind.

"No, they wouldn't..." she hesitated, turning to Tucker. "...would they?"

The two exchanged a meaningful silence. Then they face-palmed at the same time.

" _They_ would," they groaned in unison.

"Only the Fentons..." Sam sighed.

Tucker nodded. "Agreed."

"What's wrong?" the ghost boy asked, left out of the loop.

"They forgot to put a handle on the inside," Sam explained in exasperation. "We're trapped."

"So what do we do now?" Tucker sounded nervous.

"We wait until they find us, I guess," Sam shrugged helplessly.

"But we can't do that! They can't see Danny, you heard what they're going to do with him when that happens!"

"Uh, guys...?" the person in question tentatively tried to get their attention, but was ignored.

"Yes, I heard them loud and clear, Tuck," Sam growled, the mere mention of the subject raising her blood-pressure. "But do you have any other ideas?"

"Guys...?" the ghost boy tried again, but to no avail.

"We can try to blast the door open, can't we?" Tucker pointed to one of the shelves. "This is a weapons vault, I'm sure we'll find something useful."

"Guuuys..."

"Are you crazy, Tucker?! We don't know how these work! And they're _anti-ghost_ weapons! Do you _want_ to blast Danny into smithereens?!"

"Guys."

"I'm not going to shoot at Danny, Sam, I'm going to blast the door so we can get out of here!"

"Guys!"

" _You don't even know how to use a normal gun!_ "

"GUYS!" the white-haired teen yelled, finally losing his patience.

"WHAT!?" they shouted back at him. The ghost lifted his palms in a placating gesture.

"You two should just _calm_. _Down_. There's no need for blasting up anything. Thanks for telling me your names by the way, _Sam_ , _Tucker_." The two human teenagers blushed, belatedly realizing that they forgot to re-introduce themselves to their friend.

"Well then," Tucker crossed his arms, "What do _you_ propose we do, smart guy?"

The ghost grinned, his green eyes glowing brighter for a second. Without hesitation, he lifted his gloved hand and... put it right through the door.

Tucker would later deny it, but he produced a screech worthy of a berserk lemur at the sight. Sam on the other hand was startled only for a short moment, then turning impressed.

"You can do that, now?" she asked, intrigued.

"Sure," the ghost boy said nonchalantly, pulling the hand out and dropping it at his side. "All ghosts can turn intangible. Intangibility is one of the four basic ghost abilities."

"Eep." Tucker squeaked like an old mini-van tire. Sam ignored him of course.

"What else can you do?"

"Oh, I can also turn invisible..."

"Show me," she grinned, getting kind of excited.

"Okay..." The boy's body disappeared out of sight, and this time Tucker emitted a high-pitched sound that would make the most feminine chipmunk jealous. The figure reappeared no longer than two seconds later. "There. I'm supposed to be able to fly, too, and overshadow people...? It's like possessing a person, leaving them no memory of it afterwards. But I've never done that, so I don't really know how to yet."

"Wait, 'yet'?" Tucker asked in weary confusion, but Sam still paid no attention to him:

"That's awesome, Danny! Does that mean you can get us out of here?"

"That's the whole point," he responded.

Then without a warning, he _walked through the closed door to the other side_ – and this time, Tucker managed not to make a sound. Sam was surprised at how simple but ingenious this was. The two teens were left in the dark, waiting.

The dark-skinned boy finally dared to voice his concern. "Sam, doesn't Danny seem... different to you?"

Sam snorted at the question. "Why _of course not_ Tucker, he's _exactly_ the same. Can't you tell? The white hair, the toxic green eyes, the glow, a bunch of superpowers – yep, that's all totally normal for him."

"No, what I meant is-"

Before Tucker could finish, the door opened.

"There you go," the ghost smiled, releasing his human friends from their dark prison. Sam smiled back gratefully. "Thanks, Danny, that was really-"

She was cut off with a sudden gasp coming from the ghost, who doubled over with a hand on his heart.

"Danny?!"

Sam and Tucker quickly took their places at his sides, each holding him by the shoulder. The ghost boy started panting heavily.

"Are you okay, man? What's going on?"

"I don't... know..." he uttered, struggling for breath. "My core...!"

When he used his powers to go through the door, admittedly he felt the action draining his energy a bit. But he hadn't thought he used _that_ much. However, now he felt his energy level dropping rapidly, so unexpectedly he feared for a moment it would destabilize him.

But before panic could take him over completely, he realized there had to be _something else_ responsible for nearly sucking him dry all of a sudden. And he didn't need to search long to find it. Nested close to his core, there was something bearing a resemblance to a candle-flame; a small warm spot that only now made itself known by coming to life in a sudden burst of heat, as if demanding all of his energy and control. Because that was exactly what it wanted, the ghost understood fearfully. _Control_. The ghost tried to fight it, to resist the heat from taking over, but he could already feel himself losing. If he had been stronger or more prepared, perhaps he would have put more of a fight, but...

The last wave of hot dizziness and exhaustion hit him, forcing the ghost to black out.

* * *

It was a state of mind that's almost impossible to describe. But one thing about it was certain: despite the disorientation, it allowed greater clarity than Danny Fenton thought possible.

For a very long moment, Danny was convinced that he was dead. He remembered walking into the portal, accidentally turning it on somehow, the following pain of being electrocuted – an awful, horribly burning feeling, mixed with a sensation of a freezing substance (probably ectoplasm, it would explain all the green light) spilling over his body – and finally, the abrupt loss of consciousness. It only made sense for him that he died right then and there.

Strangely, it didn't bother him nearly as much as he thought it would. It was just difficult to feel anything in particular. It was so empty here, and quiet... In truth, it was almost... relaxing. The nice bonus was that he couldn't feel any pain either.

But slowly, his mind started to pace and wonder about his current predicament. If this was the afterlife, then it was pretty disappointing, Danny decided. He had thought that he'd end up in heaven... or hell at least, if he had turned out to be a worse person than he believed. But this, there was nothing here; no singing angels, no fiery pit, _nothing_. Just darkness. And silence. Dragging on. And on. _And on._

It was so _boring_.

But then, an idea sparked to life. What if he was wrong? What if he _hadn't_ died yet? People joked about 'the dark tunnel' all the time, what if _this_ was something like that? What did they say he should do, 'follow the light'? Or was it 'don't follow the light'? Uh... Sam would have known. He should ask her the next time they see each other. Too bad she wasn't here. Sam would _love_ this place; probably spending whole eternity on cracking morbid jokes and amusing death comments. Tucker would be disappointed and complain that there was no free Wi-Fi connection.

 _Not now, Fenton, focus!_ He scolded himself. There wasn't any light in sight (not that his senses were much reliable at the moment), and this place didn't seem like a tunnel... But he should still try getting out, right? Right. So, into the darkness it was.

Danny wandered, not really walking, but moving around somehow. He couldn't be sure, but he had the impression he was annoyingly slow. As if he were stuck in a pool of jello. Couldn't really move fast in the stuff. Not that Danny had ever been stuck in jello... although if he had and were the one to choose what kind, he'd pick lime flavor... Wait, where did that comparison come from again?

Oh, right, he was supposed to be figuring out how to get out of this place... _whatever_ it was. Could it be Limbo, maybe? Like in that movie where people traveled through multiple dream levels and stuff? Unfortunately Danny hadn't paid much attention to the exposition, so he didn't remember how people could exit Limbo. That sucked a lot.

Another possibility was that the shock from the portal sent his body into a coma, only his mind staying awake. Man, Danny hoped this wasn't the case. That would suck even more than Limbo. At least Limbo was interesting in that movie. They could create whole cities. And drive vans without a licence. Or trains. Too bad they didn't use spaceships, such missed opportunity. Could he fly a spaceship? He'd always wanted to fly a spaceship...

Just as Danny started debating if he could create a cool red spaceship with sheer willpower (that would have been _awesome_ ), he suddenly found something. Well, he _thought_ it was something, at least. It appeared to be... no, that wouldn't be accurate because he couldn't see it. But it _felt_ like a wall. A _cold_ wall. But, not unpleasantly cold. It was cool, like a glass of lemonade after a long, tiring day. Or a cone of ice cream in the middle of summer.

Darn. He would have killed for some ice cream right about now...

Danny poked the wall experimentally. It didn't yield, but it didn't seem unmovable. He could probably break it down or something if he tried really hard.

...yeah, chocolate ice cream sounded so good. Or fudge. Hm. Strange, he didn't crave for fudge very often. His dad must have finally rubbed off on him.

He pushed the wall forcefully, imagining it was made of nothing more than paper. It didn't do much, but he could tell he was making progress. If only he could speed this up...

Suddenly, he sensed _something_ going on behind the wall. He could have sworn he heard... voices? Well, now he knew there was some purpose to pushing this thing after all. Good to know he hadn't wasted time finding it for nothing. He began struggling, the task harder than he initially thought. Soon he became tired. Taking a short break, he wondered how much longer it was going to take before something would happen at all. Then, as if on his wish, the invisible wall started to crumble. How did Danny know that, he wasn't sure, as he couldn't see it. But it's not like much in here made sense anyway.

He felt hungry. He was _so_ going to ask for some fudge once he got out of this place.

With all of his might, Danny pushed against the wall one last time. Slowly, it gave in, its cool curiously dropping until it felt almost warm. Then like a snap, everything crashed down.

Danny could feel his senses flooding back to him in an instance, a wave of energy washing over his body like a tidal wave, before retreating to a mysterious cold spot somewhere near his beating heart. His body ached, familiar voices rang loudly in his ears, and _finally_ , Danny was able to open his eyes.

* * *

To say that Sam was surprised would be the prime understatement of the century. Same for Tucker - he seemed as if his mind has crashed. And she wasn't fairing any better.

All the girl knew was that one moment, the two of them were holding their absolutely and most positively _dead_ ghost friend; then the next a blinding white light erupted from of his waist, forming a ring around his body, hovering and splitting in two, going in opposite directions, changing his appearance from what she only started getting used to as glowing, tanned, white-haired and green-eyed, to normal pale, black-haired and blue-eyed - in other words, undeniably and most certainly _human_.

This was _not_ possible. She gaped unashamed at the simple impossibility in front of her. She had watched Danny being electrocuted a while ago - he was a _dead_! A ghost! She saw it happened! He went straight trough a freaking wall! How could he suddenly turn human and be alive again?!

Meanwhile, Danny blinked a couple of times, adjusting his eyes. As his dizziness subdued and he was able to see clearly again, he noticed his two best friends staring at him with wide eyes. He lifted his eyebrows.

"Uh... hi," he said, pretty confused. "What's up guys?"

Tucker and Sam stared. And stared some more. The silence stretched for a long moment. Then...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" they scream together, letting go of Danny who then promptly face-planted on the ground.

"Ouch," he mumbled into the floor.

* * *

It took at least half an hour of freaking out, yelling, gaping in disbelief, and even more yelling, before they finally settled enough to go to Danny's room for a rational discussion of recent events. Danny took off the HAZMAT suit and left it in the lab, swearing he would never wear it again. They were lucky the Fentons left to celebrate the portal's success, otherwise there would be no chance of hiding what happened from them. Sam and Tucker were completely weirded out. Danny was downright dumbfounded.

"Let me get this straight," he held up his hand, stopping their chaotic explanations. "You think that I turned into a _ghost_."

"But you _were_ a ghost Danny!" Sam waved her arms in frustration, uncharacteristically emotional for once. "You were glowing! And you _passed trough a wall_!"

"Not to mention the invisible part," Tucker added. "You really don't remember?"

"There's nothing _to_ remember!" Danny replied stubbornly. "The last thing I saw before waking up with you guys staring at me like I grew a second head was green light inside the portal. I wasn't awake before that! How could I do any of that stuff?"

"But you didn't recognize us then," Tucker tried to explain. "We thought you had amnesia. You didn't know us, you didn't even know your own name."

"Well I _don't_ have amnesia! I remember everything about myself," Danny ranted. "I'm Daniel Fenton, who prefers to be called 'Danny', my parents are Madeline and Jack Fenton who are practically _insane_ and obsessed with paranormal, and I have an older sister named Jasmine that goes by 'Jazz' and is pretty much as insane as the rest of my family. And she's going to freaking psycho-analyse the living out of me when she finds out about this. Not to mention my parents..." He pulled his hair. "Oh man, they're going to be _so mad_."

"On the contrary," Sam spoke, causing Danny to pause and look at her. "They seemed thrilled that their invention started working. They didn't even question how it happened."

"Wait, you mean, there were here? And they didn't find out?"

"Nope." Sam shrugged. "We hid in the weapons vault right before your mom walked in."

"But..." Danny frowned. "You can't hide in there. The door must be left open, otherwise you'd be stuck inside. My dad forgot to build a handle from the inside."

"Heheheh, about that..." Tucker grinned sheepishly. "That's kind of how we found out about your 'intangibility' power."

"Huh?"

"We were stuck and you... well, the _ghost_ you... told us about four basic ghostly abilities."

"Four basic- _what_?" Danny blinked at him incredulously. "I've never heard about that stuff. Not even from my mom and dad. And they're supposed to be the experts."

"Wait," Sam frowned in confusion. " _You_ told us something _you_ don't know about?"

"How exactly could I tell you something I don't know about, Sam!" Danny said in exasperation.

Tucker suddenly snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

"You got, what?"

"I knew there was something odd about Danny," he began explaining. "I mean, beside the ghost-thing. Dude, you really... You were _different_. Not as a bad thing or anything," he said in placating tone. "It's just, you were like a whole other person. Even your accent was different."

"His accent?" Sam was honestly surprised. "I didn't notice anything."

"It wasn't that obvious. But Danny wasn't... well, Danny. You remember what he told us about overshadowing, Sam?"

"It's like possession..." she slowly repeated 'Danny's' words, the expression of a realization growing on her face "...and it leaves no memory for the person who has been overshadowed. Tucker, are you suggesting...?"

"Yup, I think that's it," Tucker crossed his arms proudly. "Danny was possessed by a ghost."

"I was WHAT?!" Danny screamed, jumping to his feet.

"Calm down, man. You gotta admit it makes sense."

"But, but..." the boy stammered, recalling the experience of being trapped in the darkness. He still remembered that perfectly. The was something beyond that cold wall he was trying to break through, something like... another presence, perhaps?

Danny staggered backwards, falling back into his seat. He breathed deeply. What Tucker and Sam said made too much sense. But at the same time, he couldn't believe it. He didn't _want to_ believe it. There was something about him his friends didn't know, for he had been too embarrassed to tell them, or anyone else. The only person who knew was Jazz. She figured it out ages ago, however she promised to keep it a secret.

The truth was... Danny was very afraid of ghosts.

It was ironic, really. But the constant blabbering from his parents, especially his father, about 'evil, ectoplasmic entities of post-human consciousness that have no mercy for the living and would do anything to destroy humanity out of spite'... even though he didn't really believe in their existence, he was scared of them. Honestly, he felt ashamed. How could he be so scared of something that he had never even _seen_? But, maybe that was the whole point. People tend to fear things they cannot see or disprove that they exist. Danny wasn't exception in the matter.

So, he didn't want to tell his friends about it either. How humiliating would it be to admit that he, the son of ghost hunters, had phasmophobia? ...At least that's what Jazz told him it was called anyway. Sam would laugh at him and leave, she wouldn't wish to speak with such a coward ever again. Tucker would mock Danny forever and lose all respect for him. And his parents? He didn't even want to _think_ what his dad would think if he ever confessed the truth to him. His mom maybe would understand - _maybe_ \- but she would be very disappointed in him, mourning over that he wouldn't be able to carry on the family legacy.

Those musings made Danny feel like such a failure. He'd always been a freak, a loser. But this, it would make things infinitely times worse. He had to keep this a secret at all cost.

Even if it meant acting like a jerk to cover it up.

"NO!" he yelled suddenly, causing his friend to jump in surprise.

"Danny?" Sam asked, sounding uncertain.

"I don't believe you! I wasn't possessed by a ghost!" Danny kept yelling, his face turning red in what he tried to seem like an angry fit. "Those don't even exist! I thought you guys were my friends! How can you prank me like that!"

"But, Danny, we're not-" Tucker tried, but it was Sam's turn to get mad.

"How can you even think that?!" she exclaimed, standing up and facing her friend up close. "We would never do that to you! We thought you have _died_!"

"This is sick and not funny!" Danny responded, becoming redder by the second. Tears stung in his eyes, but they were not ones of anger. His hands weren't shaking in fury like Sam thought. He was struggling to keep his composure, to not completely flip out in front of them that he had been controlled by a ghost. That thought terrified him more than anything else. In desperation, he only kept yelling more senseless accusations. "I bet you and Tucker wanted some blackmail material, is that it? To record my reaction? You guys can never have enough, huh?! Well, let me tell you, it's not funny anymore! I don't want to hear anymore lies from you!"

Sam was furious. "How can you be such an idiot?! We wouldn't do that, you hear me! You have no idea what you've put us through! I thought you were dead! That I would never see you again! And when you came back from the portal and you didn't remember us, I thought I lost you all over again! And then I thought your parents would catch you and dissect you like an animal! But you know what? I don't care anymore! Because, clearly, I was wrong to even worry about you!" She turned on her heel and grabbed Tucker, dragging him out with her. "Let's go, Tuck. We're leaving."

"But, Sam-!" he tried to protest.

"It doesn't matter if Danny doesn't want to listen to us!" she said with hurt clear in her voice.

Tucker looked back at his friend, but Danny refused to meet his eyes. The techno geek sighed. "Okay. See you later, Danny."

He only nodded in response. He couldn't speak anymore. He needed Sam and Tucker to leave, before they realized he was only pretending.

Sam loudly slammed the door behind them.

As soon as he was alone, Danny collapsed on his bed, shaking. He buried his face in the pillow. "I'm not a ghost, I'm not possessed, I'm not dead," he whispered to himself. "They're wrong, I wasn't possessed. I'm not a ghost, I wasn't a ghost. I wasn't possessed. There is no ghost inside of me. I didn't die inside that portal. I'm alive. I'm _alive_! _I never was a ghost!_ "

However, deep down, he knew how untrue that was. He could feel it even now. Somewhere within his chest was a sleeping ice-cold spot, gently pulsing with energy. Sam and Tucker could think it was over and everything was back to normal. But Danny knew better. Something was wrong with him, something about him changed. And it scared him more than anything else in his life ever had.

 _I hate this_ , Danny thought bitterly. _I hate ghosts so much._

* * *

Meanwhile, the very ghost Danny resented was trapped in the darkness, scared, alone and confused. He was calling for help.

But nobody came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> Well, things are getting interesting, huh?
> 
> Can you tell the differences in personalities already? I hope so. I want to make Danny and Phantom both believable and likable. I don't like Danny as a jerk, but it had to be done. Don't worry, it won't be for long.
> 
> I had so much fun with Danny's inner dialogue... xD It's so random. I always imagined Danny being random in his head. It would explain all the crazy ideas he gets in the series, and his witty banter. He doesn't dare voicing all them though, because he doesn't like people laughing at him. What a shame.
> 
> I know Sam acts a little bit selfish here at the end, abandoning Danny during a crisis, but I think it's in character. For a supposedly emotionless Goth, Sam tends to over-react a lot in the series. But can you blame her, really? She was accused of lying by her best friend. I think I would be a little hurt too.
> 
> Thank you all very much for all the wonderful reviews. Please review some more if you can (and I know you can ;), follow and favorite but most importantly - read on and enjoy! :)


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